'Don't turn your back on us': Farmers' message to Labour Party conference ahead of budget

• Political Correspondent Lìse McNally has been speaking to farmers from the North West ahead of the autumn budget.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) is urging the Government not to "turn your back on farmers" ahead of the autumn budget.

Farmers are demanding clarity from the Government warning their businesses are at a tipping point - with climate change and Brexit causing huge challenges.

The budget on Wednesday, 30 October, is likely to see cuts across government departments, meaning the farming budgets could be scaled back.

Jon Forshaw has been growing vegetables and potatoes on his farm near Preston for 30 years and says there has been a lot of change in the farming industry of the past decade.

Jon, a member of the NFU, says the Government needs to to focus on the support farmers receive and the industry "even more".

"Food in general isn't really valued anymore and I think they need to start looking at it even more," he said.

"A guy once said to me, 'you need a farmed three times a day and you need to eat'.

"We've always been there and they always kind of think we always will be there. I think it's quite narrow-minded."

From Brexit, the energy crisis, inflation and climate change, the region's farmers say they have weathered many challenges.

It is thought to be one of the reasons why the Conservative vote was slashed in rural North West seats.

However, John fears that even though there is a new Government, old issues might resurface unless there is stability and investment to make the industry more self-sufficient.

"The cost could triple overnight", he said. "You look at fertiliser and it's increased from £300 or £400 a tonne to £1000 a tonne.

"You can't go back to the supermarket and say you suddenly want three times the amount.

"It comes to the point where you can't keep risking large amounts of money to either flooding or global volatility. It's too expensive to grow a crop for nothing."

The NFU says that £5.6billion is needed so UK farms can meet their targets and protect the environment, deliver food security and boost economic growth.

Speaking at the Labour Party Conference, Environment Secretary Steve Reed said: "We will back farmers in the fantastic work they do to feed our nation and we'll work with them to restore nature and stop animal waste fertiliser and pesticide pollution running into our waterways."

Tom Bradshaw, President of the National Farmers Union said: "What I would say to the government is we see the challenges around the world – whether that be war in Eastern Europe, the Middle East as it is today or climate change taking hold.

"We have 70 million people living on an island here and we need a plan for how we're going to feed those 70 million people and that requires investment from the Government.

"Our members need the confidence to invest in their businesses so they can deliver for economic growth and for food security."

Tom thinks that at the moment "we are at a pivotal time" where the government can build confidence and say to farmers 'we are with you' or "they can walk away from us".

"We will judge them on the 30th of October and that is the day that will really demonstrate the government's support for the farming industry or otherwise".

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